Untold Tales of Las Noches
by RonSio
Summary: This will be a series of one-shots based on the challenge Shuuji Chousenjou. These will revolve around the Arrancar/Espada, primarily the Primera and his other half. This will (hopefully) be updated either daily or weekly, depending on the challenge week.
1. Day of Moon

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, by Yemi Hikari, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 1 – Challenge 1 – Part 1**

_Monday's child is fair of face_

If there were two things Lilinette Gingerbuck prided herself on, it was both her amazing (as she likes to think) confidence, and the other would be her being much more outgoing than her partner, Starrk. However, as she walked through the halls of Los Noches, she felt both of those sap away very quickly, one conversation with one of the other Fracción that also resided under Aizen's rule, and now she felt mildly depressed and insecure, all of her usual vigor now gone.

It started with one of the many 'play dates' she has with the other Fracción. She enjoyed hanging out with them. Tesra, when he wasn't being Nnoitra's whipping boy (as she likes to call him) was a very nice guy. She viewed him in an almost 'big brother' kind of light. Similarly, Apacci, Sung-sun, and Mila Rose were her 'big sisters', and to Lilinette's surprise, they enjoyed her company as much as she did theirs. To her even bigger surprise, she found some of Barragan's Fracción to be of decent company as well. However, that is where her current upset state has originated from.

While she didn't particularly find Charlotte Chuhlhourne to be the most entertaining company, she found his knowledge of beauty surprisingly accurate, and has actually been a tad influenced on his advice every so often. In fact, with minor deviation of her part, he was the one who designed her current, and favorite, outfit. Despite how some may talk about it being 'inappropriate', she didn't care, and she considered it, with a lack of a better term, 'awesome'.

This time, however, she wasn't going for advice or a new outfit. She wanted an opinion, as she considered his word to be truth, in regards to beauty. It was a simple question. "Am I beautiful?" Three little words. She simply wanted to be the best that she could, and saw appearance as a large portion of that goal. How shocked she felt when her response to said question was laughter.

"Beautiful?" The flamboyant Arrancar exclaimed, laughter still escaping his throat. "My, my." He spoke once again, after his chuckling ceased. "I'm sorry to say, my dear, but no. You are not beautiful. To be frank, you are cute at best." A small smile still crept onto his face, however, his words were deathly serious.

Lilinette just stood there, wide eyed, pure shock and devastation evident onto her face. Her mind was racing, trying to find a way to understand this. She understood that she wasn't the best looking of the Arrancar, but she always considered herself to be attractive, despite her small size. And as if that wasn't enough, Charlotte continued, as though his statement needed further explanation.

"For one." He spoke up, lifting a single finger to the small girl. "Your hollow mask is simply atrocious." He almost sneered. "You could look so much better if it was less bulky and in the way. Second." He held up his second finger. "Your hair. As nice of a color it is, I can tell without even touching it, that very little work has been done to improve it. It's okay..." He allowed. "...but it could be much, much better." He put a smirk back onto his face. "And finally, no matter how much you may deny it, you are still simply a child. It doesn't matter if us Arrancar age or not, a child has no hope to being as beautiful as an adult."

After that, he said nothing else. Lilinette took the silence as her cue to leave, and she did so, but moved slowly, all of what Charlotte said to her still playing through her ears. She was devastated, and barely understood why. Was she really that bad? It would've been fine if he had just given her a few pointers to help her out, but no. He practically ranted on why she wasn't beautiful, and in such detail...was it obvious? Did the others see her this way as well?

She didn't know why she found herself walking to Gin-sama's room, but she stood there for what felt like hours, which was probably just a minute or two. With agonizing slowness, she raised her fist before lightly knocking. Once. Twice. Three times, before lowing her arm and waiting. There's was a rustling on the other side, before the silver haired man spoke through the door.

"Not very often I get visitors." The man spoke in a jovial tone. "Although I must ask to make this quick, I'm quite hungry." As the last few words left his mouth, the door to his room opened slightly, revealing his face. Seeing the ever present grin was almost enough to cheer the Arrancar girl up. Seeing her, the man's smile seemed to widen a tad. "Ah, Lili-chan." He spoke in a tone of cheery surprise. However, seeing the downcast look that the small Arrancar held, he invited her in. "Something you need to talk about?" He spoke in a sincere tone, one rarely heard from the man.

She couldn't help it. She spilled everything. Not stopping after explaining the discussion from ten minutes ago, but also rambling about her insecurities that had been bubbling to the surface, even including how almost betrayed she felt when someone she saw in a rather high regard would just laugh at her. Explaining all of this with tears in her eyes that stubbornly refused to come out.

To Gin's credit, he sat there, next to her, listening to everything she said, with nothing but a sad smile and an occasional noise to indicate he was, in fact, listening. While he listened to her story, he made a mental note to find some way to punish the Fracción, and possibly the Segunda as well, if possible. He thought for a moment after she finished, his sad smile dropping when seeing the miserable look on her face, staring back at him, a desperate and expectantly.

He sighed. "I won't pretend I know a thing about beauty..." The silver haired man begin, uncertain of exactly what to say to her. "But one thing I do know about, is not caring what others think of me." He gave the small Arrancar a humorous grin. "Both here, and in the Seireitei, I was looked at like I was just some creep. I don't let it get to me, because I know who and what I am." He looked directly at her. "I'm good at reading people, myself included. And, Lili-chan..." He paused, before flashing a bright smile. "You're the second most beautiful person I've had the pleasure to meet."

She knew he was exaggerating, at least a little, but she didn't care about that at all. She gave him a wide smile in return. "Thank you, Gin-sama."

The man just chuckled. "If it's just us, Lili-chan, Gin's just fine."

* * *

_Please note that this is **not **a Gin/Lili thing, it's more of a friendship thing than anything else._

_I figured 'fair of face' translated into some form of beauty, that's why it was such a big deal in this one-shot. Also, just in case anyone seems OoC, I have an explanation for them. _

_Lilinette: she's pretty much a little girl, and as tomboyish as she may be, she still finds her appearance important. That said, having a younger mentality, she probably wouldn't respond well to detailed constructive criticism._

_Charlotte: Despite whatever he may say to Yumichika, it was obvious he views appearance as a very important thing, flipping out over his hair. He'd also probably compare others to himself, so it's not too unbelievable he'd be so thorough in his analysis._

_Gin: Hitsugaya's probably the only kid he'd be anything close to a jerk to, and even with him, it'd be more like the relentless teasing he'd do with anyone else. I can easily see Gin playing the 'Favorite Uncle/Big Brother' role._


	2. Day of Fire

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 1 – Challenge 1 – Part 2**

_Tuesday's child is full of grace_

The small half-Primera smirked to herself as she stepped outside, underneath the fake sun of Las Noches. Once again, she has been instructed to wake up Starrk, who was asleep, yet again. The was easily her favorite (and only) job to do, because it forces her to get creative. Starrk doesn't wake easily, and after enough times of waking him up the same one way, his body adjusts to ignore it. So, she takes this up as a challenge. How can she wake him up _differently _everyday?

Today was one of her more elaborate schemes. Everything – and everyone – was set up almost exactly as she planned, the only obstacle in her way was the tower the Starrk's room was held in. Going in through the front door wouldn't work, it'd mess things up. So, she decided to go through the window, which was close to the top.

While she could've simply used Sonido to get up there, she wanted to use as little power as possible, only actually using her Reiatsu to help her climb. Since all she could use were her hands, feet, and maybe her sword, this would be difficult, but Lilinette's been planning on _this _particular wake up call for a while, now. During the planning, she made sure to practice climbing over several surfaces, including the walls of Las Noches, makeshift ladders that she could find, and even the gigantic Decimo, Yammy, annoying the man to no end about the 'monkey always on his back'.

Prepared, ready, and excited, she leaped onto the marble tower, grunting as the large and wide tower already put a strain on her muscles. Putting some Reiatsu into her limps, she slowly began the climb up the tower, a determined look on her face.

It was about halfway up that the climb became noticeably difficult, so much so, that she began using her blade to help in her climb. Shaking her head, she pumped more of her Reiatsu into her muscles and kept climbing up.

As she reached the top, to the marble window, she was exhausted, panting heavily. Quickly regaining her breath, she jumped out and into the room, making sure to land on one of the many pillows that lay about. Hopping from pillow to pillow, she grabbed two of them, throwing them at the door from the inside, her signal.

A single tap was the response she received, before a small sound of wind was heard, and then heard again immediately after. The door opened, revealing a very confused and slightly annoyed Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.

"What the hell?" He muttered, irritation evident on his face. Seeing the green-haired Arrancar, he stepped in, giving her a slight glare. "You mind telling me why that snake-eyed bastard brought me here?"

Speaking of which, Lilinette turned back toward the window, and after seeing the silver-haired former Taicho give her a thumbs up, which she returned in kind, she jumped up before harshly smashing her elbow into the ribs of the Primera. Before the rudely awakened man could even open his eyes, the long, thin blade that was Shinsō extended right next to Lilinette. With surprising skill and balance, she jumped onto the blade. The Sexta Espada watched, confused, as Shinso retracted back next to it's wielder, before Gin and Lilinette disappeared from out the window.

Starrk, as he woke up, neither saw, nor felt anyone, except for the blue-haired Sexta standing in front of him. The normally lazy man gave him a hard glare, his Reiatsu flaring unintentionally.

"Grimmjow." The man spoke with a chilling calmness that even made the brash Espada shiver. "Would you mind explaining why you are here?"

"I don't know." He spoke after his initial shock was over. "I was just told to come here and see if you woke up yet." He put on a scowl, deciding to leave out how he was forcibly dragged here by the man he dubbed the 'snake-eyed bastard'.

"I see." Starrk took another look around the room, though this time to prove a point. "Well, I'm awake." Confirming to himself that no one else was around, he slowly stood up and stretched his muscles. "I'm assuming it's for yet another meeting of the Espada?"

"Yeah." Grimmjow nodded, a bit more relaxed, though his scowl stayed in place. "Beats me if I know what it's about, though." He added with a shrug.

"Speaking of beating..." Before the Sexta could question what his words meant, he found himself backed into a wall, the Primera's face close to his own, with his Zanpakutō against his chest, nearly drawing blood from the Sexta.

"Let me make one thing clear to you." Starrk spoke to the weaker Espada in a grave tone. "The next time I'm woken up so abruptly, and only see you..." He paused, letting his words sink in with a glare. "You're dog food. Got that, Jeagerjaques?"

Resisting the urge to laugh at the pun the Primary unknowingly made, Grimmjow simply nodded his head with a bit of reluctance. "Yeah." He muttered after nodding. "I gotcha."

And with that, Starrk lessened his glare down to an annoyed glance, before releasing the Espada. He then slouched, tiredly walking past him and out the door. "Alright, then." He said to the Sexta. "Let's go. They're probably waiting on us right now."

Grimmjow looked at the higher-ranking Espada dumbly for a second before quietly breathing out a sigh of relief. "Lead the way." He stated, letting the scowl return to his face, plans of revenge to a certain silver-haired man flooding in his brain.

Unknown to them, though, neither Grimmjow nor Starrk would be the last one to the meeting. Just outside the room, peeking in through the window was the two who really woke up the Primera. Both Gin and Lilinette began laughing as soon as the door shut, Lilinette holding her stomach while Gin held a hand to his mouth.

"I must say, that was well worth the preparation, Lili-chan." Gin chuckled, his perpetual smile wider than usual.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed with a touch of excitement. "And Starrk's reaction made it even better!" She didn't consider Starrk acting so drastically, so that little surprise made things much more amusing.

"You were pretty good yourself." Gin complemented. "You surprised me how well you handled yourself, standing on top of Shinsō, perfectly balanced."

Lilinette responded with a playful and arrogant smirk. "I'm pretty awesome!"

* * *

_Since this one's 'full of grace', I tried to make her move in a graceful manner. I figured she'd practice doing all sorts of convoluted schemes just to wake the lazy Primera up, so hopefully this seems believable. As for Starrk's reaction at Grimmjow, well, I think it'd be safe to assume that he ONLY allows Lilinette to wake him up violently. Anyone else gets either warned or cut._


	3. Day of Water

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 1 – Challenge 1 – Part 3**

_Wednesday's child is full of woe_

Normally, one would consider one's birthday to be a happy time, a day of celebration and friends. This wasn't the case for either half of the Primera. To them, January 19th was nothing but a reminder of the solitude and loneliness that they suffered through before joining Aizen's ranks.

The others that resided in Las Noches understood this and allowed whatever moods either were in to simply slide, knowing that it would be over the next day. Well, most understood that, anyway.

The Quinto never cared for the 'depressing air' or the 'emo attitude' (as he himself has called it) that resided from them during this day. It annoyed him how every year, like a broken record, either one of them would be quieter than the Cuatro, and twice as depressing. This year, he's decided he'd had enough.

"Hey!" He called to the shorter Espada, immediately after yet another one of the obligatory meetings, before stomping up to him with a rather angry attitude. "Now you listen here!" He exclaimed, jabbing a finger into the Primera's chest. "I've got a bone to pick with you, pooch!"

The Espada in question did nothing but look up to the taller man, his eyes conveying his annoyance to the lower ranked Espada.

"You have _got _to learn to man up, _Primera_!" He continued. "Every year, it's the same! You're all down and sad, it makes me sick! You're the top Espada, so either start acting like it, or step aside!"

Starrk stayed silent for a moment, processing what the Quinto said to him. "Start acting like it?" He repeated, more to himself, than to Nnoitra. He simply shook his head before turning around. "Do you mean, start acting like a leader?" He questioned. He almost smirked before he continued, deciding to hit home with his follow-up question. "Or do you mean, start acting like a _mindless beast _such as yourself?" Without waiting for an answer, he walked away, back to his own room. He allowed the smirk as he heard an enraged scream behind him.

When he approached his room, he wasn't surprised to find Lilinette already there, asleep (or at least laying down) on a small pile of pillows. He looked at her for a moment, just thinking to himself. While the two may be one originally, they are still separate now. She doesn't deserve to feel lonely, especially since, whether she admits it or not, she's still a child. That's when an idea popped into his head, a genuine smile appearing on his face for the first time that day.

* * *

The second time he went into that room, he immediately went back to his own pillow pile to rest on. If Lilinette was asleep, she didn't act like he woke her up when she spoke up.

"Where did you go this time?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"I decided to speak to Aizen-sama about something." He responded. This prompted a slight chuckle from the girl, though it sounded empty.

"Since when do you initiate anything?" She responded in an almost teasing manner. Starrk resisted to sigh at what she said.

"I realized that while our wish of companionship may have come true, we need to do something ourselves to make it work." He explained.

"So?" The weaker half responded. "The Espada going to go on pub crawls now, or something?" This time, the Primera did sigh.

"No." He responded, sterner than a moment ago. "I knew that getting myself to regularly do something with the others may be close to impossible. But not for you." This prompted the younger half to look up at the man, confusion on her face. "Hanging out with the other Fracción from time to time may be helpful, but it can also cause problems, it's not the best solution." He said, remembering her last bad encounter with a certain Fracción. "I spoke to Aizen-sama, and he, in fact, has agreed to help."

"What's he going to do?" Lilinette asked, curiosity written all over her face. Starrk smirked at her.

"Lessons." He spoke simply. Lilinette's face gave a blank look. Thinking it to be confusion, he continued. "Regular interaction with others, in the form of lessons. Both combat and intellectual."

"I got it." She spoke quietly, but with obvious annoyance. "So your plan, is to send me to school?" The Primera shook his head in response.

"Nope." He answered. "Aizen-sama wouldn't agree to that. He also wouldn't agree to just you, either. So, a majority of the Números will now be part of these lessons which are taught by some of the Espada."

"Let me get this straight." Lilinette sat up, annoyance and disbelief evident on her face. "You try to help me out, so you speak to Aizen-sama, and now we have an 'Arrancar Academy' here in Las Noches?!"

Starrk didn't seemed fazed. "No. We agreed not to give it a name, especially not that." Though he left out how Gin seemed to like that one. "And it's more of a tutoring thing." He continued. "I think you'll like it. You go to some room, spar for an hour, read for another half, and leave."

Lilinette sighed to herself. It wasn't _that _long, so maybe she could suffer through it. "Fine." She said after a moment. "You did go through all this effort. I'll at least check it out." She gave him a glare. "Don't expect me to work very hard, though."

"I don't." He easily responded.

"By the way." She spoke back up. "Who're the 'tutors', anyway?"

"Grimmjow should be the one teaching you how to fight, whilst Ulquiorra will be teaching you mostly history. Szayelaporro will tutor in science, though I doubt many will take his class." He unintentionally shivered, certain that any students would immediately become test subjects for the Octava.

Lilinette thought for a moment about the three Espada that would become her tutors. "On second thought..." She spoke back up. "Maybe I _should _work hard." She ignored the odd look Starrk sent her.

* * *

_However it might look, this is just a one-shot fic. The one-shots are just able to work go with each other. Not all of these will follow a linear story path. Some will go to the past, while others may be AU's. So, sorry in advance if some of these seem way to linear, but don't worry, after the first week, it should be a bit more random._

_Also, I'd assume Starrk's been there for a long time, which means, he'd know Nelliel, which means, he'd know about that mindless beast thing._


	4. Day of Wood

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 1 – Challenge 1 – Part 4**

_Thursday's child has far to go_

Lilinette learned quickly that she would either love her lessons by the time it was over, or hated it. There was no in between. And many were the day that she hated how the tutors were going over her. Being an unfortunately weaker Arrancar (despite being half of the Primera, and despite the massive increase Starrk get's during their combination) she was picked on during the combat lessons. A lot. And not just by the other Números, but even the self-dubbed Grimmjow-Sensei seemed to single her out more.

It wasn't just the combat lessons either, during 'Ulquiorra-Sensei's' lessons, while he was hard on everyone, he also seemed to single her out. How was she supposed to know who the first Arrancar was? How was she supposed to know the name of the only Cero more powerful than the Gran Ray Cero? And how was she supposed to know what the majority of the other Arrancar were, since the obvious answer of Números wasn't it?

She even decided to brave it and took Szayelaporro's class. Thankfully the only test subjects were random Hollows he'd find, but it still wasn't an easy class. She found out first hand that if the mask remains intact, you could do _anything _to the Hollow's body and it won't disintegrate. Thankfully, he didn't single her out, and was even a bit nice to her and the other students. However, he was quick to judge, so anyone who didn't get his teachings perfectly were out of luck. Some Números got insulted or yelled at, for not doing exactly as he said.

What surprised the young Arrancar most, though, was not the tutors, but the Números that were being taught alongside her. This was supposed to be optional, however, many of the Fracción were forced to go by the Espada they served under. Some to better themselves, others just for an hour or so of peace. There were even a couple non-Fracción Números that took the courses. But that wasn't what shocked her. What shocked her was how intently the other females seemed to listen to the tutors, almost unblinkingly so. It freaked her out a bit.

Today was the start of another tutoring session, several Números walked together, most likely so as to not be late. As she joined the group, she couldn't help but overhear conversations between many of the Números.

"This is such a pain. I already know how to throw the ultimate punch." The largest of the Fracción muttered to himself. "It's what he ordered, though."

"Okay, Grimmjow-Sensei told me to work on my speed during my Resurrección, since 'a bulking behemoth is worthless against a faster opponent'." Tesra mumbled, taking this possibly far more serious than necessary. It annoyed the small half-Primera more than she let on how quickly the other began calling the Espada 'Sensei'.

"So, after the Great Hollow Wars from about 1000 years ago, that's when the first Arrancar was made, by one hollow absorbing all the others around him?" Asked the shortest of the Segunda's Fracción.

"Exacta!" Exclaimed another one of the Segunda's Fracción. "His name was Arturo Plateado. And after..." Lilinette tuned out the history lesson given by the man walking in front of her.

"So..." A female voice, one the green haired Arrancar recognized to be one of the Tres's Fracción. "What do you thing Grimmjow-Sensei will go over today?" The tone in her voice hinted at nervousness, though it wasn't too noticeable. Unfortunately for the Fracción speaking – Mila Rose – the other two caught it.

"My, my, it isn't like you to be shy." Spoke up a quiet voice – Sung-sun – in an almost singing voice.

"I guess cats of a feather flock together." The third voice – Apacci – spoke smugly.

"Shut up!" Mila rose spoke up, although trying to keep quiet with everyone around them. "And that's not even how the saying goes, Apacci!"

"Still fits." The Fracción muttered with a verbal shrug.

Behind the three of them, though, Lilinette was stunned. She had no idea that something like this was possible. Over reading everything she heard as though it was a love confession, she excitedly began to run forward. Whether it was to tell Grimmjow or to congratulate the Fracción was never discovered, for immediately, she tripped on a bad tile, landing straight onto her face.

Ignoring the giggles she heard around her, she stood up, red faced, and continued towards their mutual destination at more of a brisk walk pace. She looked downwards, making certain not to look at anyone. However, she was walking by memory, and although she was going the right way, she didn't see what was in front of her before it hit her. Or more precisely, she hit it.

She bounced slightly off of a hard surface. Looking back up, she got a much more fearful look as she noticed the ever present blank look that belonged to one Ulquiorra Cifer. Almost completely panicking, she stood up straight quickly, bowing down with an even greater speed, only to suppress a yelp as her horn caught onto something. Due to their close proximity, her one horn got caught in the Cuatro's belt.

Her already red face turned even redder when she heard bouts of laughter from the Fracción around her, as well as cat-calls from the three females she was eavesdropping on before. She felt a hand (she could only assume it was Ulquiorra's) grab her horn and roughly dislodge it before giving a slight push, forcing her backwards.

Ulquiorra stood there for a moment, doing nothing but staring at her. She knew, though, that he was thinking. Not only thinking of what to say, but also of a (most likely) punishment to put the young Arrancar through. Finally, he spoke.

"You should make sure to study the lessons much more vigorously from now on." The pale Espada spoke, ignoring the sudden silence as all present Arrancar stood, watching the two of them. "For the next three tests, your highest possible score shall be a seventy percent, while for the next twelve after that, each wrong answer will be worth five instead of the usual one." And as though that wasn't enough, he added, "We shall also go find Szayelaporro before the day is over, to see if altering your mask is possible. If you weren't half blind or had that horn, perhaps this wouldn't have happened." Ignoring the sudden boisterous laughter, he walked off, leaving the little Arrancar standing there, unbelieving at the current turn of events.

* * *

_Sorry for the late chapter. I meant to do this yesterday, but things happened. I'll try to get back on a more regular schedule once I get to challenge two._

_This is more or less a two-parter, the second part will be the chapter after the next one. 'Far too go'. As far as I could tell, I had two ways to turn that. Either a sparring fail, or an embarrassing one. I went for the embarrassment. Some of the question mentioned earlier in the chapter will also make a comeback, so you can get the answers (although you'll probably already know them) when the second part comes out. And lastly, I can honestly say that while I didn't intend for this to turn out like this, I'm quite content with how this turned out._


	5. Day of Gold

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 1 – Challenge 1 – Part 5**

_Friday's child is loving and giving _

The smaller half of the Primera was walking throughout the halls of Las Noches, a bit upset and annoyed. Apparently her other half is sleep deprived. This baffled her to no end. How could someone who could sleep 20 hours a day if not checked on, and 12 if he was, be sleep deprived?

This started a few days ago. Starrk, while always lazy, always paid attention at the mandatory Espada meetings that were practically daily. However, recently, he seemed to be spacing off more, some of the others have noticed his head subtly bobbing up and down while Aizen-sama droned on about something or other. While this annoyed many of the others, it wasn't too big of a problem. At least until Starrk flat out fell asleep yesterday, and has yet to wake up since.

Szayelaporro did a few (supervised) tests on the Primera, and discovered that he was, in fact, sleep deprived. To answer the confusion, it seems his extremely high Reiatsu requires him to sleep more. When questioned by as to why other powerful Arrancar or Shinigami do not have the same issue, he further clarified that it was a special case, specific to Starrk.

Furthermore, to Lilinette's annoyance, to prevent this from happening in the future, he's only to be woken up for meetings or other very important matters that would require the Primera's presence. In addition, thanks to Gin's suggestion, the Primera now has a _curfew _that he must abide by, or in other words (as described by both the Sexta and the Quinto in bouts of laughter) a bed time.

The icing on the cake for the small Arrancar, though, was that until Starrk wakes up from his 'sleep coma', as well as any time this should happen again, _she _was responsible for taking Starrk's place in any Espada meetings he may miss.

That's why she now found herself standing by the entrance of the meeting hall. She was surprisingly nervous. Granted, she knew it was her job to do this while Starrk slept, however, she had never seen such an intimidating room before, and honestly, she found being in the same room with 12 of the 13 most powerful beings in all of Hueco Mundo quite intimidating.

"What's the matter, Lili-chan? Nervous?" Questioned the voice of one Gin Ichimaru behind her, making her nearly jump out of her skin with his sudden question. "I'll take that as a yes." He said, holding back a small chuckle.

Deciding against glaring at the silver-haired man, she walked into the room. She wouldn't admit it, but she was thankful when she noticed the man walking somewhat close to her, giving her a mild bit of comfort.

Her comfort was greatly diminished when she discovered whom she was going to be sitting next to as she approached Starrk's seat. Ulquiorra to her right was fine. He wouldn't hurt her, and, on some small level, she liked to think they got along, at least considering she never heard him refer to her as 'trash'. Zommari sitting in front of her was also fine. She never really spoke to the silent man, but he was loyal enough to Aizen-sama that he wouldn't think of hurting her. It was Nnoitra to her left that made her uneasy. She wouldn't think it impossible for him to use her to get to the Primera.

Thankfully, he, along with the others, were too busy listening to Aizen-sama as he spoke to do anything to her. The meeting was dull, but she finally got an idea as to what they do during these meetings. Plan for future battles against the Shinigami. Discuss training and decide as to whether or not a partner or a different training regimen is necessary. Have tea with water brewed from who-knows-where. At least once, either Grimmjow or Nnoitra will speak up in some way that will require Aizen-sama to 'remind' them as to why he's in charge.

According to Ulquiorra next to her, monthly, during a scheduled meeting, they would do power checks amongst the entirety of the Arrancar, to see if either any potential new Espada have arrived, or if the numbering of the ranks need to change. Aizen-sama told the girl to let Starrk know as soon as he wakes up so they may go on with the 'check-up'. Grimmjow looked annoyed, and when Lilinette asked, he replied with a gruff "I'm still the Sexta. No one will take that from me." Before she could ask, the meeting ended, and the others all left.

'Let's see...' Lilinette thought to herself as she walked back towards Starrk's. 'Power check, both Barragan and Nnoitra want to challenge him...again...what else was there?' As she tried to collect her thoughts as to what he may need to know, she got frustrated, making an annoyed noise. "Why do I have to do this?" She muttered to herself.

As she entered his room, she simply looked at his sleeping form. At first, she was tempted to wake him up forcefully, but smartly chose against it. As she looked at him, she sighed, almost sadly. 'He needs this.' She had to remind herself. 'He might get worse if we keep doing as before'.

Shaking her head, she sighed once more, before looking around the room, searching for a pen and/or paper so she can write a note. "You idiot." She said more to herself than the sleeping Primera, knowing it would not wake him up. "I'm doing your job for you, so you better be thankful when you wake up." Despite the slight harshness in her words, a small smile crept onto her face.

* * *

When Starrk woke up a few days later, he was disoriented at first, before remembering what had happened. He sat up and yawned, before noticing the small Arrancar huddled up in a pile of pillows a few feet away from his own. Standing up, he noticed a not on the inside of the door. Quietly, so as to not wake his weaker half, he walked up to the note and read it. The scribbles made him believe it has either been rewritten or edited several times.

_'Hey idiot' _The note read. _'Just to let you know, lazy ass, you've been asleep for -a- -two- -three- **four** days! I've been taking **your **place in the meetings while you slept, so, you know, you can thank me later. Just to let you know, the power check thingy is way overdue, so get to it! Also, you've been challenged -twice- **three **times by Barragan and -three- -four- -five- **several** times by Nnoitra. Other than that, nothing much happened that you would care about. Oh! One last thing. After reading this, **EAT**. I've asked Szayelaporro (who's a surprisingly good cook, by the way) to make you something for when you wake up. So, after reading this, go to him and eat. I mean it._

_-Lilinette._

Starrk read the note a few times, making sure to absorb all of it. He took a look back to the sleeping girl, and put a small smile on his face. "Thanks, kid." He said, before deciding to do as she asked and get food.

* * *

_Sorry about the delay. Things got hectic for a while, but it seems to be calm for a while. I know I keep apologizing, but I'd have preferred to have been doing Week 2 by now, and I just finished this._

_Also, I'm hoping I did a decent job with the 'loving and giving' thing. This was honestly the most I could think of for it. If you didn't like the note, or how I did it, don't worry, I'm not planning on doing letters in chapters often._

_One last thing, sorry if this updated for you twice or something. I saw a major error that needed fixed immediately. Hopefully it'll be fine now.  
_


	6. Day of Earth

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 1 – Challenge 1 – Part 6**

_Saturday's child works hard for a living _

"Let's see..." Lilinette mumbled to herself as she mentally went over her given tasks. She had already swept the floors, which the big guy demanded she did hourly. She, with very minimal help, had managed to put most of the boxes away in a generally orderly fashion. Now to stock the shelves.

She sighed to herself, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. This is _not _what was planned. She was sent to the human world to just observe. Preferably Kurosaki, but if that was too difficult, than to find out who was around, to see if any Shinigami, or other potential enemies, are hiding in. She had been specifically ordered to stay enough out of the way to not be considered a threat. And that's what she was doing.

Or at least she _was_ until she, by sheer bad luck, managed to enter a building that just so happened to have three extremely powerful Shinigami inside. The memory of her capture was both humiliating and infuriating. After all, who the _hell _would disguise their home and base as a candy store? The small Arrancar cursed both herself for her childish cravings, and Szayelaporro for not making a good enough Gigai.

The big guy, as she would refer to him as, immediately noticed that she was different. Probably the others did too, but she saw his demeanor go from relaxed to on guard and ready to strike. After some careful and clever questioning, the Boss (as she was forced to call him. Ass-hat felt more appropriate to her) called her out on what she was. Thankfully, she would be allowed to leave, but because of Cat-woman (as she had the misfortune of discovering the reason behind the name) the weaker half of the Primera is essentially the shop's slave for the next weak before she was allowed to leave.

Slave was a harsh term, but it was not only the term used, but also somewhat appropriate to the situation. She worked for them for free, became their after hours maid, and slept on the floor in Cat-woman's room. The big guy also made her wear a completely different outfit, in addition to the mandatory smock, saying her clothes were 'not meant for a young girl' such as herself.

She scratched her shoulder, being shot out of her musings. Realizing she probably just stood there for a good few minutes, she rushed to the back, carefully, but quickly, gathering a few boxes before bringing them out for her stocking duties.

"Would you like some help?" A quiet and monotone, yet very familiar voice asked out of seemingly nowhere. Lilinette nearly jumped out of her skin, for a good couple reasons.

She spun around, seeing two kids that looked roughly her own age. "N-no, Ururu-sama!" Then she turned to the other, who seemed to be smirking at her reaction. "Same to you, n-no help needed, Red." These two were a living hell for her. She met the girl soon after her initial encounter with the others. She shuddered at the...'explosive' memory of when she caught the Arrancar who seemed to be raiding her closet, despite the Boss being right there in the room. She met Red soon after, and realized he wasn't as much of a menace, but made up for it in having possibly the worst attitude she's seen.

"I wasn't gonna ask, Hollow!" Red replied, his former smirk replaced with a scowl. "If it was up to me, you'd be doing much more than you have." He casually walked beside her to the shelf she just finished a moment ago. "You should be thankful." He said, his smirk coming back to him. "That you're not steam cleaning this place from top to bottom, or being made to do repairs to the building." At that, he swept his arms, easily brushing off nearly everything that was on the row he stuck his arm in. "Oops." He said with a chuckle.

The Arrancar in the room went wide eyed, her hands twitching. Taking a breath, she knelt down, picking up what he had dropped, examining the packages and boxes for any rips or breaks, before throwing the bad ones away.

She had to mentally force herself not to go off on the boy, who was now laughing as he left the room. She knew he had his reasons, surely. She was a Hollow. She was the enemy. She shook her head, who was she kidding? If it wasn't a guaranteed death for herself, she would've gladly went off on the brat. As it stood, if she even made a move, the girl would kill her before even Cat-woman arrived.

That's why it surprised her when she saw the girl helping her, despite her previous protest.

"He needs getting used to." She said, not looking at her while she examined the goods still on the ground. "I've known him for years, and I'm still just barely a friend to him."

Lilinette saw the way he treated her at times. "Some friend." She muttered, sarcastically. With a sigh, she went to the back once more. "I'll get more stock." She said, leaving the room.

* * *

That was two days ago, and today, after the shop closed, the inhabitants of the shop led her to some underground mountain area. They all gathered in from of her, some strange device behind them.

"Well, Lili-chan." The eccentric Ass-hat (Boss, she corrected herself) said. "Well, your time is up. Your punishment's done, and now we're sending you home." If she didn't hate the blonde man in front of her, she might've hugged him. She desperately wanted to go home since she was caught.

As the machine was being activated. Ururu stepped up to her.

"I guess this is goodbye." She said quietly. Ever since that stock incident two days ago, Ururu turned from being her potential executioner to being her friend.

"It is a shame." The Boss replied from his position at the machine. "While she was working here, our sales went through the roof!" Whether that was a good thing or not, she had no intentions of finding out. "Maybe you can come back one of these days."

"Not as an enemy, I hope." Big guy replied.

"Never at all works, too." Red piped up.

With the machine finally activated, everyone stepped back, giving Lilinette room to go in. The Arrancar gave a glance to everyone, before giving a smile and jumping in.

Once she touched the sands Hueco Mundo, her smile dropped to a horrified look. Her being gone for a week, her failing her mission. How will she explain all of _that _to everyone?

* * *

_Okay, this one sucked for me. Even now, I don't like how it ended up, but at least I got somewhere with this. This theme was surprisingly difficult. Add that to my slightly hectic personal life, and bam, this takes 3 weeks to do._

_I had a hard time figuring this out. At first, I wanted it to revolved around the previous chapters and her lessons, I was even tempted to throw in a fight scene before realizing I suck at those. So, here. A slight AU of being captured by the Urahara Shoten. The nicknames were simply because she probably would either not remember or not care to learn their names. Except for Ururu. If it wasn't clear, the little girl can be scary, and Lilinette does NOT want to make her mad._

_I've noticed that non Hueco Mundo characters are kinda hard for me to write. Hopefully I didn't butcher them up too bad._


	7. Day of Sun

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 1 – Challenge 1 – Part 7**

_But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day is bonny and blithe and good and gay_

One thing Lilinette despised more than anything else was being alone. She constantly sought company, whether it be positive or negative. That's why what she was currently doing at the moment was surprising for her. Wandering the desert's of Hueco Mundo (with permission from Aizen-sama) was not a social thing to do, no matter how one looks at it.

However, she had her reasons. And these reasons were also why she was seemingly angry at the world. Passing a nearly boulder, she gave it a kick, venting out a small bit of her frustrations.

"Stupid cat." She muttered, throwing a second kick, putting a crack in the stone. What surprised her as a shushing noise came from the other side. Glancing over, she saw a small girl in green rags.

"Pwease be quiet." She hissed, sweating slightly. "I'm taking a bweak. I can't wun fowever and they'll find me." Lilinette almost winced at her bad pronunciations. There was a rustling heard and it was steadily growing louder. "Quick, hide!" The small girl, with a surprising amount of strength, pulled her next to her in her hiding spot.

Peaking around, Lilinette got a good view of who was after the girl next to her. There were two creatures, possibly Arrancar, but definitely Hollow. One was tall and lanky, the mask further adding to his bug-like appearance The other was taller and much larger. This one nearly scared the small half-Primera due to the giant, ridiculous face that was almost as large as his body.

"She has to be around here somewhere, don'tcha know?" The larger one spoke, but in a tone that said he knew exactly where they were.

"I don't know." The lanky one spoke up in the same tone. "I don't see her. And there's no way she's behind this cracked boulder. Wait, cracked?" Lilinette grew confused, and was beginning to doubt if they actually knew or not, if they couldn't even see the cracks on a rock.

"Maybe..." The larger guy spoke, creeping up to the rock.

The smaller of the two girls grabbed Lilinette's hand. "Get weady to move!" She hissed.

"She's right..." Lilinette nearly sighed. Why was she dragged into this? She just _had _to stumble upon a potential murder scene. "HERE!" At that, the larger of the two men jumped out in front of them. "Now we got-!" He stopped, a surprised expression on her face when she saw Lilinette.

"MOVE!" The smaller girl yelled, almost literally dragging the weaker half of the Primera as she ran herself.

"W-wait, come back here!" The lankier man called out. As if listening, the girl stopped and turned to them.

"No way!" She said with...glee? In her voice? The taller of the two girls was seriously beginning to question just what the hell was going on. "Remember? You have to catch Nel!" Nel? Was that her name? And why was it so familiar to the other girl?

"Waitwaitwait!" The larger man spoke up. "Who's that girl with you, don'tcha know?" He asked. Though, he did seem slightly nervous about the taller girl. The girl, now possibly known as 'Nel', didn't seem to notice the agitation the two men had, instead putting on a confused look.

"That's wight." Nel muttered quietly to herself. "Nel doesn't know who you are." She then turned to Lilinette with a bright smile on her face. "Nel's name is Nel! What's yours?"

Lilinette looked at the scene before her stunned. Two slightly nervous men, both of whom look a bit dangerous, but so far seem harmless, and an excitable little girl, who seemed eager to be the half-Primera's friend.

"Lilinette's name is Lilinette." She hesitantly spoke after a moment.

"Nice to meet ya, Wiwi!" The green-covered girl spoke happily. "Hey, wanna play Eternal Tag?" She asked with an almost expectant look on her face.

"Eternal...Tag?" The Arrancar repeated questioningly.

"That's our game!" The lankier of the two spoke up. "Basically, we chase after Nel until either she or us collapses from exhaustion." It disturbed Lilinette how cheerful of a tone he said this with.

"Nel's a masakiss!" The small girl spoke up with a smile. This put the taller girl in confusion.

"Masa-what?" She asked. The larger man patter her on the back chuckling.

"She mean masochist, don'tcha know!" He said, laughing more.

"It's not fun unwess Nel cwies!" The self-proclaimed masochist exclaimed. "So, wanna join our game?" She asked.

Lilinette weighed her options. Option A being leave now and forget this ever happened, Option B being to leave and send someone to get rid of these guys, or Option C, give in and play their game.

She went for the latter.

"Why the hell not?" Lilinette asked rhetorically.

"Great!" The lankier one exclaimed. "Now, you're it! So, you run!"

"I run?" She asked. Normally being 'it' meant others ran. The three others, even little Nel, suddenly started looking much more menacing to the Arrancar. "Got it!" She darted off, reminding herself not to use Sonido. She got slightly nervous as she heard the others right behind her.

At first it was almost scary to her. Somehow, the danger of being captured by an enemy was felt, and she almost felt the need to defend herself. However, as the time passed in her running, the eternal moon never changing, she began to laugh, quietly at first. Somehow, she was having fun, the thrill of the chase was getting to her. Her laughter began growing, and she was certain she looked insane. A little girl running from a smaller girl and two freaks, laughing her ass off.

"Now you know the fun!" She heard Nel call out. "Wiwi's a masakiss, too!" She couldn't help but possibly agree. All of her frustrations from before, gone.

"Maybe!" She called back. "Now, when do-" She turned to where they were, only to stop as they were gone. "Where did they go?"

"Hey kid." A familiar voice spoke up. Next to her, she found the Sexta, standing there with a posture of either annoyance and embarrassment. "I don't know who you were talking to, but come on, we gotta go."

Lilinette must've been gone longer than intended, if they sent him, or anyone for that matter, after her.

"Well? Anything to say?" Her previous annoyance at the man was gone, but she still felt the need to chastise him for it.

"If you want me to apologize for your poor fighting skills during our spar, I'm not." He grumbled. "Now come on, we're leaving." Roughly grabbing her shoulder, the two vanished via Sonido.

"There you are." Starrk said as the two reappeared in Las Noches. "I'm hope you leaned something while you were gone. I don't want you running off again."

Grimmjow found this 'big brother' routine to be funny, slight chuckling coming out his throat.

"Yup!" She said cheerfully. "Turns out I'm a masochist!" Grimmjow would be rolling on the floor laughing, if it wasn't for the glare of absolute hatred the Primera was sending him.

* * *

_I translated this as being happy, or having a good time. If I'm wrong, I'll try to fix it later._

_What do you think? Much quicker than the last update, huh?_

_A slight AU, though it is technically possible. During some trip to outside Las Noches, she finds Nel and her group. Lilinette barely knew Neliel, at least didn't know her as much as Starrk did, so to her, Nel would be barely recognizable, if at all. This was just a humorous take on that._

_I'm hoping I didn't exaggerate Nel's accent too much. I knew she had a lisp, but if it seems too much, I'll try to fix it next time._


	8. Haiku of Ten Souls

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 2 – Challenge 1 – Part 1**

_10 character haiku_

Little pink-eyed girl  
You have so much potential  
And yet you just prank

Here comes the cat man  
Fastest soldier of the King  
Does not like hornets

The strongest of all  
Is also the loneliest  
Desires his sleep

The self-proclaimed king  
Desires to prove himself  
Always a rebel

Little girl of green  
Changing between big and small  
Surprisingly nice

Tall bean pole of strength  
Arrogant and is prideful  
Do not cause your death

Pink man of science  
Feared by many to be used  
Knowledge is his strength

Woman of the sea  
Stoic, strong, and beautiful  
Loved and feared by all

Newest Espada  
Beautiful woman, wait  
You're really a man?

A strong imposter  
Takes the powers of his prey  
Takes their faces, too.

* * *

_A haiku of 10 characters. Not much to explain here. Also, who the haikus are about is technically a secret, but you're allowed to guess. I think I made it easy enough. Also, expect week 3's chapter to be here roughly soon. I think time-wise, I'm in week 4, so I'm sure I'm allowed to post early/late to catch up.  
_


	9. Summer Tales of Christmas

_Obligatory Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach. That particular gem belongs to Tite Kubo. This will be a series of one-shots I'll (hopefully) do regularly to help boost my creativity. The name of said one-shot challenge is Shuuji Chousenjou, and you can find it in the Bleach forums._

**Week 3 – Challenge 1 – Part 1**

_Christmas in July_

Most of the time, when Lilinette went over to Gin's just to chat, it would usually end up with him telling a story of his past. Sometimes it would be a story of his time as a Taicho. Other times it would be a story from his childhood. She decided she loved those the best, just because of how happy, for lack of a better term, he sounded when telling her about it.

"You know." Gin trailed off during one of his stories. "Winter used to be the worst time of the year for us. The intense cold, the freezing weather. Usually, what happened was that we'd end up holding onto each other for warmth. I'd occasionally go leave and snag us food, but that's how we spent most days. Huddled together in a cold wooden shack." He barked out a laugh. "Oh, how stiff our joints would be come spring." He then turned to Lilinette, a slightly humorous smile on his face.

"However." He continued. "During one of my food-runs one winter, I overheard some talking, which completely changed my opinions of the harsh weather from that point on." He leaned in closer, his humored grin threatening to split his face. "Christmas." Seeing the confused look on the girl's face, he began to explain. "You see, in the human world, Christmas is a special holiday. It's a time a giving gifts to family and loved ones, simply spending more time with them." His grin kept it's humor but lessened in intensity. "To the people of the Rukongai, it was a beacon of light in the harsh winter."

"Upon hearing about this mystical day of December 25th, I decided that I should do what I can to make winter as pleasant for her as possible." Lilinette had no idea who this 'her' was, he'd never explain, and would just look depressed if she asked. Trying to look even more interested than she even was, she silently told him to continue. "I'd go out more, into the cold, but it was worth it."

He gave a small laugh. "You should've seen the look of pure bliss on her face when I showed her the presents. I remember exactly what I got her that first Christmas. A little golden necklace, because she deserved the luxury of some jewelery. And a pink scarf, at first for the cold, but she just looked so cute in it that I begged her to keep it unless the heat was unbearable." He let out another laugh. "You also should've seen how angry she was sometime later, when she found out I stole them." He smirked, looking pleased with himself. "She never made me give them back, though."

"What was your last Christmas like?" Lilinette asked without even thinking. Gin gave her another humorous grin.

"My last one? Not nearly as magical as my first few in the Rukongai, but better in the sense of more friends..." He paused, his grin turning mischievous. "More friends meant more gifts for their dear Ichimaru-Taicho." He let out a small laugh.

"Because of what we went through as children, you can argue that we were the ones who really brought in Christmas to the Gotei 13. Don't get me wrong, people have been asking about it for centuries, I'm sure. But me being a Taicho, and her being a Fukutaicho, our authoritative positions allowed us to 'enforce Christmas', so to speak, on our respective Divisions." He let out a sigh.

"Thankfully, Chibi-Taicho lightened up some during this time. We'd even convinced him to make snow for us once, although, that stopped quickly after it being labeled as 'grievous misuse of the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō!'" The Arrancar girl couldn't help but laugh as he imitated an elderly voice.

"But, you asked for my most recent Christmas, right?" At her nod, he continued. "At first it was the usual. First off, we'd extend it for five days. Two before, two after. Both of our Divisions have a couple hundred men each, so it makes sense to give a little more time, right? Usually, it'd be me and her, discussing what to get who. Most unseated Shinigami just got a random thing everyone would be content with, but we made sure that those with seats, especially Taichos and Fukutaichos, got something special."

"However," He continued. "She wasn't there this time. She sent Chibi-Taicho in her place, saying she needed to sleep in from a..." He glanced at the small girl for a second. "A headache. I didn't complain. Admittedly, he's better at planning than either of us, plus he knows a couple of the others better than us, so better gifts."

"Or it should've been." He gave a small pout. "Better at planning, yes. Stingy with cash, _hell _yes." He shook his head. "At least with her, we could just spend more and hope something expensive would fine." He gave off a sigh. "We had to search harder for gifts, but we managed."

"I also found out something about Chibi-Taicho in our little bonding experience. Who knew the kid had a sense of humor?" He asked rhetorically. "It won't be as funny to you, since you don't know these guys." He started to chuckle already. "But when I saw him carrying a bucket of gold paint, a pig trough, and a little pink bow with an address to Second." He had to pause for a second, his laughter threatening to come out completely.

Despite not completely understanding the humor, Lilinette couldn't help but giggle as he tried to calm himself. "Do you think we could do Christmas soon?" She asked as his breathing returned to normal.

The silver-haired former Taicho looked at her for a moment in thought. After that moment, he smiled widely, several expressions present on his face.

"Of course, Lili-chan." He promised. "But not yet. Winter is still a few months away. I've been meaning to bug Aizen-Taicho about this anyway." He stood up and went into his closet. "I've been saving up something for this too." He walked out, carrying two pointed hats, one red, one green.

Unceremoniously, Gin put the green one on her head. If not for the horns, it would be too big for her head, despite the helmet itself.

"When Christmas time rolls around, I want you to help me." Gin said before putting on the red hat. "Wanna be Santa Gin's head elf, Lili-chan?"

Without even thinking, Lilinette answered excitedly, "Yeah!"

* * *

_I don't know if I did 'Christmas in July' completely correctly, but I'm planning for the Espada Christmas chapter to be a big thing, and I don't wanna accidentally use something in both this and that chapter. Besides, this is Christmas-oriented, by saying winter's a few months away applies it's at least summer, if not exactly July, and we got more brother/father/uncle Gin, so I think this'll be fine._

_Also, I'm tempted to use both of Gin's stories as little stand-alone oneshots. They're in my head, so I may or may not write them down, we'll see._


End file.
